Virutes Become Vices
by juneprota
Summary: *SLASH* A case hits Warrick close to home. GregWarrick


**Virtues Become Vices**

_"...the one who is left by you, all his virtues become vices immediately..."  
-- From the Lakshmi Stuti_

Warrick walked into the break room and didn't bother hiding his smile upon seeing Greg. "Hey, Sanders."

"Rick."

He went straight for the coffee and held up the pot to Greg. "Yours?"

"Yeah." Greg watched as Warrick nodded and poured himself a cup.

He took a seat next to Greg. "You're looking rough, man. Did you get any sleep?" He hid his smile behind his cup.

Greg merely glared at Warrick. He felt exhausted and he knew he looked it. He had no idea how his boyfriend managed to look so good after spending their entire day up. They hadn't gotten any sleep between their last shift and this one. "Yeah, it was a long day. I had this guy over. The longest, most boring day of my life. He just kept going and going, didn't know when enough was enough. I was ready for him to stop thirty minutes into it." Greg got a little satisfaction in seeing Warrick's jaw tighten.

"I didn't hear any complaints."

Greg let out a huff of air. "Well I'm a nice guy."

Warrick leaned closer to Greg. "You're also full of shit, Sanders."

"Maybe." He gave Warrick a lopsided smile and was about to soothe the savage beast with a quick under the table grope when Gris walked in.

"Warrick, we've got a DB in Henderson. It's yours." Gris handed Warrick a sheet of paper and turned around to leave.

"Hey, what about me?"

Gris turned around. "Don't you have paperwork to do, Greg?" With that he walked out of the room. Greg had expected as much though. Ever since it became public knowledge that he and Warrick were shacking up, they'd only been assigned one case together and even then Sara was working on it as well.

"Hey, I'll see you later, okay?"

Greg nodded absently as he watched Warrick walk out of the break room. He had a bad feeling about this case. Greg was hoping he'd be around after shift to talk to Warrick about it.

Greg's premonition was proved true when he walked through the lab at the end of his shift and heard Warrick and Gil arguing behind closed doors. He could hear Warrick's pissed off "Fuck this. I can do this Gris, I just need one more day" and Gil's calm, but growingly impatient "I don't think that's wise, Warrick." Greg had a second to make a decision. He could interrupt them, or just let the whole argument play out.

Before they started dating, Greg had a tendency to avoid Warrick when he was in a bad mood. The guy could be vicious, and Greg had never wanted to be on the wrong side of an angry Warrick. Greg had been there more than a few times over the last couple of years though. He remembered Nick's initial advice "just wait until he calms down, it'll blow over." Worst advice ever. If he just waited until Warrick calmed down, he'd probably still be waiting. And for those rare times that Warrick did calm down, it was usually a bad sign.

Greg had found it was best to just get the argument over with. When Warrick wanted to argue, Greg argued back. It usually ended with Greg winning and Warrick falling over himself, apologetic, or Warrick pounding him into the mattress. Victory all around. That was personal though. This was work, and the thought of Warrick pounding Gris into any mattress was kind of disgusting.

Greg made his decision, gave a courtesy knock, and walked into the office quickly. "Oh Warrick, hey. Um...Gris I was just going to tell you about that B&E."

Gil looked at Greg skeptically. "Sara already briefed me, Greg."

"Oh, right. Yeah, she did tell me she was going do that. Must have slipped my mind." Greg rocked on his heels. "So...what're you guys up to?"

Gil looked at Warrick, then to Greg, and back again. "Warrick was just leaving. I need to speak with you, Greg." He glanced at Warrick. "We'll discuss this tomorrow."

Warrick turned on his heel and stormed out. Greg always thought it was strange that someone could storm out of a room without making a sound. He shoved his hands in his pockets as he waited to hear what Gris had to say.

"You're on the case with Warrick." That was the last thing Greg expected. The surprise must have shown on his face, because Gris continued. "Warrick wants to work this case. He's the most senior CSI..." Catherine was supervising days now. "And I trust his judgment. But he seems...attached. It looks like suicide, but he thinks otherwise. He says he just needs some more time. Greg, I just want you to keep...to make sure...to..."

Greg watched in amusement as Gris stumbled over his words. After a few seconds, he gave Gris a break. "Gris, I'm honored that you think so much of our relationship, but I really have no control over Warrick. The guy does what he wants to."

"I think you underestimate yourself, Greg."

XXXXXXXXXX

When Greg walked into their house, he headed upstairs to find Warrick in the bedroom. He stood in the doorway and watched as Warrick took off his boots. "Gris put me on the case with you." Before they started getting serious, they had agreed that they wouldn't discuss work at home. But, Greg figured this was an exception. He watched Warrick shake his head and mutter under his breath "thinks I need a fucking babysitter."

Greg walked to Warrick and sat sideways in his lap, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "Hey, it'll be fun, like the good ol' days, you can play mentor again."

Warrick smiled up at him. "We'll be like Sherlock and Dr. Watson."

"Who gets to be Sherlock?"

"I do of course."

"How do you figure?"

"Deduction, my dear Watson."

XXXXXXXXXX

Greg hadn't bothered asking for more details about the case that day. He waited until they clocked in the next night. They were in the layout room going over the evidence Warrick had collected the night before.

"You know, you haven't told me about the victim yet."

"Her name was Becky, Becky Sampson."

Greg waited for Warrick to continue but they got a page. It was Doc. "I guess he finally got a chance to look at our vic."

They joined Doc in the morgue just as the older man was taking off his gloves. "Textbook suicide. She obv--"

"No, there's no way. She wouldn't have done this."

"It's--"

"I fucking knew her. She wasn't--"

Greg immediately remembered Gris's words. No wonder Warrick seemed attached. "You know her?"

"Knew, Greg. She's dead." Warrick walked out of the room. Greg glanced at Doc before following Rick. He found Warrick in the layout room going over the evidence once again. "She didn't kill herself."

"Do you remember one of the first things you told me about being a CSI?"

"I told you a lot of things."

"You told me that without perspective, you're fucked. Doc ruled it a suicide, Rick, and the evidence isn't disproving it. You've got to let this go." Greg started moving the reports in front of Warrick and putting them in a folder. "Let me handle this." Greg looked at Warrick. "Trust me to handle this."

Warrick nodded, his voice thick, "I think I'm gonna go." He didn't give Greg a chance to respond before leaving the room. Greg had no choice but to finish the final paperwork. He got permission from Gris to leave as soon as he was done.

XXXXXXXXXX

Warrick was in bed when Greg got home. The bedside lamp was on, and Greg took it as the invitation it was. He toed off his shoes and climbed in bed facing Warrick.

"So, who was she?"

Warrick's voice was low, "Beck. I used to call her 'little sis.' We practically grew up together." Warrick gave a slight laugh. "I don't think I would've made through high school chem without her."

"I'm so sorry Rick."

"Hey it's not your fault. I don't even know why I'm upset. We hadn't talked in nearly 3 years. We had a falling out."

"What happened?"

Warrick pulled away from Greg and rolled onto his back. "Nothing worth mentioning."

Greg looked at Warrick and nodded. "Three years ago? More like 2 years, 10 months, and 3 days ago, right?"

"You're counting days?"

"Hey, it was the best day of my life." Greg brought the hand that was in his up to his lips to brush a kiss against the knuckles. "I wish you would have told me then."

"What would you have done? Left me so I could keep a friend?"

Greg's eyes dropped to the green comforter beneath them. He shook his head slightly. "I could never..."

Warrick brought his fingers to Greg's chin and lifted it up so Greg was looking at him. "And I'd never want you to."

Greg kissed Warrick before making himself comfortable and resting his head on the man's chest. Warrick's fingers almost immediately found their way to Greg's hair. It was a few minutes before Warrick broke the silence. "You know, it was strange when it happened. All of a sudden it was like everything she loved about me, she hated. When I'd talk about going out with you, she'd say I went out too much. When I'd talk about staying in with you, she'd say I didn't get out enough. When I was helping you move into that shitty apartment, she called me too helpful." Greg rolled his eyes at the "shitty apartment" remark. It was a luxury apartment. When Warrick was trying to convince Greg to move in with him, he deemed it "shitty" and proceeded to list all of its faults, most of which were made up. Greg's favorite had been the "uneven floor." Warrick had "proven" it by rolling a marble across the kitchen floor.

As if reading his thoughts, Warrick responded. "I don't care what you say, Greg. That place was shitty. You're much better off here."

Greg thought about the benefits of their house over his old apartment, the main one being Warrick. "Yeah, I couldn't agree more. You know, I'm surprised you were friends with her. She seemed like a major...you know." Greg didn't want to insult the dead.

"Bitch? Yeah, she was for those last few months I knew her. She was a good friend in the beginning though. Just think, if I hadn't been friends with her, we never would have gotten together."

Greg furrowed his brow, "how do you figure?"

"If she hadn't tutored me in high school chemistry, I never would have majored in it in college. I never would have become a CSI. We never would have met. Or worse, we would have met on opposite sides of the law."

Greg shook his head. "I never would have become a CSI without your encouragement."

"Well then, the nation would have been less two of the best CSIs out there."

"The butterfly effect in full force." There was a short lull in the conversation. Greg hugged Warrick from his awkward position. "I wish I knew what to say to make you feel better."

Warrick laughed a bit. "Me too." He ran his fingers through Greg's hair. "You just being here helps though."

"Well, I'm here for as long as you need me."

"I might need you for a really long time."

"Well, I'm okay with forever."


End file.
